felt ball nursery mobile

Ooooo today I was crafty and it felt so good! It has been quite some time since I had a moment to myself.  My sweet mother took Evaleigh with her to her doctors appointment this morning.  Since Avett has been sleeping in til 10 like a teenager I ran outside and picked out the perfect branch for a project I've been itching to do.  I used fabric and felt balls I already had and made Avett a mobile for his nursery.  I don't know what it is about making something that does good to my soul.  I had fun.  Seeing Avett look up at it after I finished and smile for about 3 minutes made it even better. 

homemade christmas.

I am always looking for ways to reuse anything around the house.  This year an old Jesus the Christ book from the 70's was my victim.  I present to you my...

1.  Find an old book you don't mind ripping up.  I felt a little guilty ripping up a book about Jesus but at the same time, isn't that what this Holiday is all about anyway?!  Now, I feel justified.

2.  Tear out several pages.

3.  Fold them short ways accordion style.

4.  Bend them in half.

5.  Put two of them together.  Tie string around the middles to hold together and glue seams shut.

After assembling all of the paper ornaments I gave them a pop of color with this paper tape from Anthropologie.

We paired these decorations with some vintage seam binding from my Nanny.  We had several colors so we cut them into strips and tied them together to form a colorful garland.

And there you have it!  Someone 40 years ago bought a book and I turned it in to a cheap and easy DIY Holiday decoration! 

P.S. Two years ago today I got to do something very special.  I went to this place for the first time.  I will never forget the reverence and beauty of that peaceful day.  I am so grateful for this season and the time to reflect on my love for the Savior.  This is such an incredibly special time of year for me as I remember the sacred blessings I received that day.

meant to be.

Two weekends ago husband and I were driving home from the Atlanta Chili Cookoff and in an effort to salvage the day we went to do a little shopping.

We ended up with a sweet sock monkey onsie which Mr. Murphy simply could not leave Buy Buy Baby with out.

I love seeing him get excited about baby things, its darling really.

On the way home I spotted this beauty at a yard sale and we made a quick u-turn to take a closer look.  It was just the thing I had been looking for for baby EJ's room.

To my complete dismay and sadness the dresser had already been payed for and sold to someone else FOR $35!!!!

The woman said I could leave my name and number and if the buyer just so happened to not return to pick it up she told me she would call me.  

Of course I didn't think it was a possibility because who pays for furniture then just doesn't come back to get it?

Well, that lady.

Sure enough 4 days later I got a phone call from Miss Mary Jo and I was able to get that beauty of a dresser for baby EJ's room.  It was delivered to my house and all for the low low price of $35.  A pretty sweet deal if I do say so myself.

So, like all good furniture in my house, it got a paint job.  My sister will probably shudder when I say this, but I shabby chic'd it.  Sorry Bek.

Distressing a piece of furniture is the fastest way to give something a face-lift.  I did all of this in under two hours.

All you have to do is paint the piece then when it is almost dry take sand paper and rub the spots that look like they could have acquired some natural wear and tear.

I am beyond pleased with the results.  

Now...to sort through 16 boxes of baby girl clothes given to us by our aunt and uncle.  These drawers are going to be filled with tiny lovely little things.

(see two other DIY Shabby Chic/Distress Projects here and here)

Nursery Week- DIY Mini Banner Pillow

Last week I was a nursery project doing freak!

I completed 5 of my to-do's for EJ's room.

This week we are going to have Nursery Week and I am going to share a few of my projects.

I am really excited to share this project because I came up with the idea all on my own...or at least I think I did.  

So, if you've ever seen a pillow like this one, just keep it to yourself so I can keep thinking I was cool enough to cook this idea up all by myselfsies!

What you'll need:

Pillow

Several different prints of fabric

Sewing Machine

Tape Measure

Scissors

I can't wait to rock my sweet baby in this chair.  

I figured a mini party banner would be appropriate since we two will be up partying together til the wee hours of the morn.

Maybe daddy can join us too.

Can't wait.

i'll eat that sour cream for you

This weekend I went with my soul friend to the Yellow Daisy Festival at Stone Mountain.

It is voted one of the top five arts & crafts shows in the nation.

Did someone say ARTS AND CRAFTS?! Oh, I'm there!

I grabbed some Green Apple and Blue Raspberry Italian Shaved Ice and Lisa got a burrito from Enrique's Place and we began our trek through the forest lined with hopeful vendors.

It was so much fun to walk through the woods in the coolness and shade of the trees.  The wind would blow just enough to remind us that fall is on its way.  

There was a lady selling homemade drink mixes and we were able to sample some of them.  We tried the Caramel Apple Cider and my eyes got wide and I could taste fall!  

I left with two bags of hand-ground Pioneer Porridge and Ground White Grits.  I can't wait to have them for breakfast.

When we left Lisa and I went to the Atlanta Temple for a few hours.  

I love the temple so much.  

It is such a place of peace and comfort to me.  I was so happy to have been able to take my daughter inside with me!  

I could feel her excitement as we were inside there together and she began to move around.  

I felt so relaxed and hopeful for the rest of my life as I sat in the temple and contemplated silently.  

I am so grateful for the opportunity to be able to go inside the temple and leave all of my cares behind and have time to feel like spirit and feel God's love for me.  

(and I know Evaleigh felt it too!)

DIY Lace Onsies

After seeing this and this on Pinterest, I decided to take a crack at spiffin' up some onsies for our little EJ.

My sister and I went to Hobby Lobby and got loads of lace notions and felt to make flowers and then went home to start our creations.

I am so happy with how they turned out.  I can't wait until her precious tiny body is filling up those onsies, I already have them hanging in her room!

We are 20 WEEKS TODAY!

I can't believe we have already reached the halfway point.

This pregnancy is going pretty fast but I am enjoying every moment.  (Except for the nighttime potty interruptions.  Those are becoming much more frequent. Ex: last night...I went 3 times from 12-5am...little lady likes to dance on my bladder)

I hope everyone has a fantastic Labor Day weekend! Here is what we did last Labor Day.  I could go for some more of that!

We are going to cookout and have a jam session, I can't think of anything more perfect.

The Ultimate Craft

I am currently involved in the greatest craft of all time.

I am making a tiny human.

This is by far the longest and most incredible project I have ever been involved in.

Here are the instructions and you too can have a tiny human of your very own.

supplies:

1 dapper husband

1 dutiful wife

mix well with one romantic evening and a lot of sweet lovin' and wait 40 weeks

Being pregnant has actually been pretty easy so far. 

I haven't gained a pound. (In fact I've lost 15, don't worry doc says its ok)

I sleep great through the night.

I don't have to wake up in the night to empty my bladder.

I haven't had any crazy cravings.

I've only thrown up 6 times.

I feel happy and glowy.

We have been blessed with so many hand-me-downs.

My hair is growing leaps and bounds.

Our baby has only given me a few little kicks, nothing uncomfortable or painful yet.

We are approaching the halfway mark and I am eager to start feeling EJ move around more.  I listen to her heartbeat every other day on our home doppler.  It is like music to my ears.  Sometimes we can hear he flipping and moving in there.

She is the...

Best. Craft. Ever.

I know...I know...

It's still only November but I couldn't wait any longer.  Our Christmas Decorations have been going up for the past week now.  I started listening to the Pandora Christmas music station on November 1st.

For John's birthday my mother gave us a firestarter to have our FIRST fire in our fireplace.  We can't wait.  But this Atlanta weather just really cant decide what it wants to be.  Today I rolled up my pants legs and didn't even wear a coat. WHERE ARE YOU WINTER??

I went to Hobby Lobby to return some knobs that I got for (this) project.  I had planned on just getting my money back but in true female fashion the crafts were screaming my name not to leave the store empty handed.  So...I succumbed.

I wanted to get a couple of wreaths to go in the living and dining room areas.  So, I took a look.  

80 bucks...90 bucks...for a wreath!?

Heck, I'll just make my own. So, I found plain wreaths that were on sale for %50 off so I got them for $4!! Then I picked up a few berries and went home and got to work.

I wanted something really simple and clean.  So I went with earthy colored berries.  I love how simple and beautiful it turned out.

Cost: $6 each as opposed to $80.  I'll take it!

Then I took some extra old lace that I used to make this (earring holder)and I glued some berries on to the lace.  Then I hot glued it closed and used it as garland to go around the chandelier in the dining room.

Mr. Murphy and I started seriously dating around this time last year so this is a particularly special time of year for us.  I love thinking back to all of my memories from last year.  I am so pleased with how our lives have progressed in this past year.

I remember going down to my Nanny's for Thanksgiving last year and texting John the whole time missing him and longing for his presence.  My Nanny asked me if I thought I was going to marry him.  I told her there was no possible way.  She disagreed.

(mr. murphy is wearing a hat that I made. he sure can rock a flower)

We had our first kiss on December 3rd 2009 and we were engaged on January 3rd 2010. Grandmothers sure do know best. (and apparently can tell the future.)

Happy Holidays my sweet friends!  Enjoy every single minute of it, this time of year goes by fast!

The coolest thing on our wall-2

The night of my birthday my mother got out a box of old hankys that she had and we laid them out with the ones that (John got for me for my birthday.)  They all fit perfectly together.  
 Some of them belonged to my great great Aunt Annelle and some belonged to Zede, an old family friend.  My mother gave any of them to me that I wanted.  I had BIG PLANS for these guys. Big plans.

My mother also gave me my Great-great Grandmother's earrings for my birthday.  Her name was Ula Minta.  Rumor has it, she killed off like 7 husbands.  Sassy lady.  I also got my great grandmother's old sewing scissors.  Treasures.

The next morning my mother ironed each hanky for me and we went on a walk together.  On our walk we looked down and mom noticed that our shadows were completely identical.  It gave us a good laugh but to be honest, I am so grateful to look just like her.

Then we met up with my sister to go shopping with all of my BIRTHDAY $$$.

(a little pre-shopping pic)

In charming Charlie's.

(My beautiful, beautiful sister, in a headband she would never buy but I think she looks rather stunning.  Are you smeyezing?)

On the other hand, she bought this one right away.

Then I got these...

and my sister bought me these..

and I got this sweater and necklace.

After John got out of his interpreters course we went home and I got to do my Hanky project!

Earlier that day mom and I had gone around and procured several album art square frames.  We placed the ironed hankys in the frames and decided which order to hang them in.  It was quite strategic.

(The layout)

The finished product.  I love it when dreams become reality.

I cannot WAIT for that wall paper to be gone.  They said they would remove it sometime this month. Then we will finally have walls that don't look like jail cells.  

We spent the rest of the evening pretending to be drunk off of blueberry juice and rolling each other up in an exercise mat and taking turns driving the other person caaarraaazzzaaayyyyyy.  Perfect birthday weekend.